The next step was setting sail, not her favorite thing, but one she agreed to. Saying good bye to London for a spell, we set off for Jersey on a rented boat.
My poor darling was below for awhile, trying to get sea legs on a five hour trip. When we arrived, we were greeted by my family. My mother was overjoyed; they had talked online, so for them it was like two online friends finally getting to meet. My brothers and sisters-in-law simply followed suit. Of course, Dad was most difficult:
"You gave her The North Star." He said the night we arrived.
"Yes, I did." I watched him shake his head, as if trying to process, trying to choose the right words. I knew he couldn't, and braced.
"You are sure, then, Henry."
"I think you said that when I said I wanted to be an actor." I gave him a look. He cared in his own way, wanted all of his sons to do well, but then there were the society pages, and as one in finance, it was a worry. Image reflects worth, potential and prosperity, he once said. I agreed, I applied it to my acting career, and I had done well, but these things did not always work in love. He referred to us as gentlemen who should marry ladies, but he hoped for status to reflect and carry the Cavill name. My mother, bless her, was more concerned about our true character, not societal superficial checkmarks that indicated it. And I was no different.
He sighed, "So I did."
I stood there for a moment. I swallowed hard. "It is an important day. I'd like you there, but I will understand if you won't make it."
"You mean can't."
I manage a small smile. "Right."
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We had to stay one night here. It was part of the agreement if we were to go through with anything. We stood on the mountain and took in the beauty of it all.
"You had fun getting here," she smiled up at me.
"It was the first time my brothers and I ran a boat together in decades, and we felt like pirates," I told her, smiling broadly. "Not quite the party I thought would happen, but a good one, talking and sipping Jack or brandy." I frown at her. "What about you?"
"It was nice to have a sort of slumber party with the girls," she nods. "and also nice to be in the kitchen together. I thought it would be difficult, but your mother knows how to run things."
"She ran us boys, remember?"
"Henry," she whispers. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am," I tell her. "This is where it happened."
"What happened?"
"The ancestor who first gave that ring on your finger." I watched her eyes widen and then shine up at me. "Theirs was not an easy love affair. There was doubt of his love, of hers, their families. Only they knew how much they loved each other. And they came here."
